Schear Investment Advisers LLC Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.5% of Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $18.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $482.95. 17,012,629 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,044,914. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $207.13 and a 12-month high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $494.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $397.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.54, for a total value of $7,568,131.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550. Company insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.